I recently had the chance to see and hear Simon Garfield, author of ‘Just My Type’, at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The event was extremely well attended and not just by the ‘type geeks’, of which I include myself, but by ‘normal people’. ”I didn’t expect such a variety of people”, mused my ‘special friend’ who agreed to come because of my interest. It was a very interesting hour. We were taken through a little history and given a little opinion but what struck me was how important ‘type’ or ‘fonts’ are to people.
I conclude that everyone has an opinion on fonts. Whilst a good number of the people at the lecture would carefully select a font or typeface, I reckon everyone considers, even for a second, which font their Word doc or email is composed in. Ask around, you’ll be amazed at how many people, “don’t like Times”, or “find Comic Sans just right for, well, every situation.” I felt, then, slightly hard done by when, whilst telling others of the event, I received looks of, “that sounds rather geeky.”
I suppose the difference between ‘public’ and ‘geek’ occurs in the following. Whilst everyone might consider which font to use from the drop down font list on their computer, a ‘geek’ can love letters. There genuinely can be a love for a ‘curvy g’ or a ‘perfectly shaped ampersand.’ I ‘really like’ letters more than love them but what I enjoy even more, is listening to people who ‘have no real opinion’ express complete distain that they received an email from their boss in ‘bold Times New Roman.’
